


Just a Bad Boy with Brown Eyes

by lordbyronsass



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Biker AU, College AU, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Modern AU, Pining, Slow Burn, Star Wars Modern AU, baby yoda is a puppy, cara dune is your roommate, coffee shop AU, din is in a biker gang and youre a colledge student who works at a cafe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:41:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28090329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lordbyronsass/pseuds/lordbyronsass
Summary: Y/N is a History and Literature double major in the city of Nevarro (Think NY) and your roommate Cara Dune convinces you to go out one night in celebration of mid-terms. You’re both very different people, Cara isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty and while she’s also a History Major, she has involvement with a local motorbike gang called the Rebellion who’s sole purpose is the protection of the LGBTQ++ Community and local women in need. It’s on this night out to a local bar you run into a rival gang member belonging to The Mandalorians, although you don’t know this. He saves you from an uncomfortable encounter and you both slowly become fascinated with one another.Honestly this just screams Fanfic Cliches and Y/A novel shenanigans but, isn't that what we're all here for?Possible spoilers for the Mandalorian.TW for light injuryTW for eventual sexual content
Relationships: Din Djarin/Reader, Din Djarin/You
Comments: 32
Kudos: 238





	1. But what about the puppy?

You stare at yourself in the mirror and let out a sigh at your reflection. You had been slowly applying makeup for the past 30 minutes while Cara moved about the small cluttered dorm apartment behind you. You were unused to the act of putting on makeup, not because you were against it, you just never had time, between working at the coffee shop, studying and volunteering for the library, you had no time or excuse to utilize the art form.

Tonight you settled on simple eyeliner, deep wine red lips and a soft blush. You were only wearing jeans and a shirt anyway you thought, looking down and adjusting the soft black button up, tied around you waist, a sliver of skin visible between it’s hem and the waist band of your pants. 

“You ready to go?” Cara appeared over your shoulder in the mirror. 

You looked up with a smile at her and turned to face her, gently fixing the leather vest that lay over her singlet, exposing her muscled arms littered with tattoos.

“Maybe I should just stay in, I’m sure you’d have more fun without me, really. I have plenty I can do here.” You replied.

It wasn’t exactly a lie, you never had the stamina for a night out, usually becoming extremely tipsy after one drink, and tired before midnight. Usually you opted for a night in, studying or curled up with a book or movie. You felt like such a cliché. But you knew if you stayed home you’d only throw on some pyjamas and start your laundry, at most you’d read a book before passing out by 10, so something in you nagged you to go out.

“Don’t be ridiculous! I’m not letting you go full crazy cat lady on me. I know there’s a party animal in there.”

“Okay, but only a couple drinks!”

An hour and two margaritas later you found yourself in possibly the smallest and dingiest bar you’d ever been in while in Nevarro. And you grew up here.

You picked at the peeling red vinyl of the booth you were pressed into next to Cara and three other members of the Rebellion as the music and chatter blared around you. You were glad you came out, really. You enjoyed the conversation, the questionable music from the juke box and mostly the company. You listened to them talk about past bar fights, books on feminism, the last drag show you all went to and you giggled happily as you sipped your drink. You watched each of their faces smiling under the red light of the bar.

“Let’s do shots!” Allie shouted over the music, bearing a fresh tray of five full shot glasses, salt and lime slices. You knew that would only end in disaster and you had an early shift at the Café tomorrow.

“I’m going to get some air!” You shouted into the ear of a very questioning Cara, one eyebrow raised as she moved to let you slip past her. You grinned at them all as you began to make your way through the bar. “I’ll be right back I promise!”

You laughed to yourself as you heard them shout behind you, “For Leia!”  
And moved yourself carefully through the people stationed throughout the bar, you tried to steady yourself, feet sticky against the linoleum beneath you and head beginning to spin slightly. As you made your way past the bar you felt your foot slide, linoleum no longer sticky, but slick with a spilt drink and your hand reached out and brushed a man’s jacket as he sat at the bar. 

“Oh god, sorry.” You pulled yourself back and upright at the man turned to look at you, anger in his eyes until the moment they met yours. The anger changed into something far more sinister, something you chose to ignore as you looked over the man, long blonde hair pushed back and a red flannel’s collar tickling the underside of his beard.

“That’s quite alright, darlin’.”

Something in his gaze made you uneasy so you continued to the door, which once open gave the sweet relief of a night not tinged by red luminesce and a cool breeze to combat the alcohol induced flush on your cheeks.

You pulled your arms tight around you as the air hit you and you moved yourself along the pavement, still within the light of the building but just out of reach of the front windows. 

You enjoyed the stillness and raised your chin, eyes closed to breath it in. You thought you were alone until you heard the startling click of a lighter. Your eyes opened suddenly and your head whipped to the left.

Standing there, back lit and illuminated by street lamps and the bar signs stood a man who’s features were hidden from view. All you could make out was a dark leather jacket, and when he inhaled from the cigarette dangling from his lips, it gave enough light for you to see the dark shade of his hair and eyebrows, brown eyes peered out at you, his face lined with stubble and you noticed a moustache. The cigarette went dull again and you realized he had caught you staring.

You looked to your feet, the blush on your cheeks only growing. Before you had a chance to muster the courage to look up and ask to bum a smoke from him you heard a whine coming from the alley to your right and behind you. 

It was unquestionable that if you were sober you would have just turned around, marched back into the bar and forgotten about the mystery man, and the mystery sound.

But you had the liquid courage, or stupidity, of two margaritas in you, and you turned and walked towards the alley.

You recognized the sound of that of a dog and you paused outside the alley’s entrance as you heard a scuttering. The alley was even more dimly lit than the street but as you stood there, arms wrapped around yourself, your eyes adjusted and you made out the faint outline of a small furry creature. The sane part of you prayed it wasn’t a large rat, the drunk part of you only walked forward. Maybe it was a cat, you found yourself thinking.

“Here kitty kitty.” You softly cooed into the alley. The small mass of fur slowly approaching. You held your breath with fear that was in fact an enormous rat, but slowly two large eyes made their way towards you. As you squinted and bent forward you made out the face of the creature in question. A puppy, just a puppy, with the biggest ears you’ve ever seen. You leant down to pat it and let out a small aw as you reached out. It was very slowly making its way towards you. You were so focused on it that you didn’t hear the bar door opening, the laughter, conversation and music drifting out into the street before it closed.

You were so focused in fact that you didn’t hear the feet coming up behind you. 

“Here kitty kitty.” The voice that mocked yours was deep and harsh and you spun around so fast that you fell backwards onto the ground, your palms scraping against the pavement. You heard the dog yelp and run. It was the blonde man from the bar you realized as his figure towered above you.

“The fuck do you want.” You hissed at him, trying to pull yourself upright and failing. The figure only peered over you, looking down, features down obscured by darkness as he had come closer and further from the light.

“Yeah what the fuck do you want, buddy?” Another voice rang out in the alley as a dark figure approached you both. The blonde man turned to face it and you took your chance to scramble to your feet.

“Mind your goddamn business, man.” He replied, turning back to you. You knew that drunk or sober your reaction would have been the same, but you don’t even realize that your fist had connected with his face until you heard the crack of his teeth hitting together. The sound slowly followed by a shooting pain in your wrist as you stumbled one step backwards. 

The blonde man is too stunned to speak and only moves to lunge at you. A hand flies out from behind him, grabbing his collar and pulling him back. The dark man now stood between you and the creep and you vaguely became aware of his leather jacket and the odd patch haphazardly sewn to the back. You’re too distracted to pay it much mind, the only thing could pay attention to is the rush of adrenaline and fear surging through your body. Well, that and what you thought could be a broken wrist.

You nursed your hand against your chest, ears ringing too loudly from shock to hear the violent words exchanged between the two men, you only slightly registered the man in the leather jacket pushing the other out of the alley. You prepared yourself to push past him and run into the bar, you knew the moment Cara saw you, you’d be safe. But you didn’t get that chance.

The single remaining man turned towards you, and a streak of light rested across his face and you realized it was the man with the cigarette from earlier.  
“Are you okay?”

The words sounded distant, as if you were underwater and they didn’t register, you only prepared yourself to fight him off too, slowly sliding a foot backwards, preparing to send it into his groin when the words finally hit you.

“What?”

“Are you okay?”

You know you were supposed to answer but you can’t seem to think about anything but his eyes looking down at you.

“Hey! Get the fuck away from her!” The sound of Cara’s voice breaks you from your trance and you look up over his shoulder to the towering woman. 

For one second you genuinely fear for the man’s life, before he turns and Cara stops, recognition in her face.

“Oh, it’s just you.”

“You might want to get your friend home now.” His voice is level and calm as he throws a thumb back to gesture at you.

Cara only responds with a stern stare, “C’mon, Y/N. Let’s go.”

“But the puppy.” The words escape your lips before you realize you’ve said them and both of them look at you with raised eyebrows.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine, let’s go.” Cara wraps her arms around your shoulders and begins to pull you away back into the street, but for some reason you can’t help but look back at the man in the leather jacket, his gaze still on you, a look of bewilderment in his eyes and a smirk pulling at his lips as he watches you go.


	2. Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader just can't get him out of her head.

You had been laying awake in bed for hours, the sun slowly growing brighter and peaking through the blinds as it rose. You could hear Cara snore softly across the room but couldn’t muster the energy to care, you were to busy thinking about the man from the night before. And you had been since you awoke. Your mind lingered on his brown eyes and worn leather jacket. You wondered how Cara knew him but you didn’t have the time to ask last night between her scolding you and dumping you in bed with a large glass of water. Luckily you had awoken without a headache.

You groaned as you noticed the red glow of your alarm clock reading 6:12 AM, you’d have to hustle to get to work on time. But you took one more moment to groan and pull the covers tightly around you, giving yourself just one more moment to remember your knight in shining armor, or rather, dull leather.

You worked at the coffee shop two blocks north of campus a few days a week and besides the early start you didn’t mind it. It was a small business run by a stern man named Greef Karga, a man who you knew for a fact also had dealings with a darker side of business, one that was more Cara’s cup of tea than your own. But you didn’t mind, he was kind to you and his customers and always made sure you were getting the work you needed to get by.

The coffee shop in question was reasonably small, just one wide open space with the bar and tiny kitchen space at the back. The wooden floors and wide windows made the space larger than it appeared with a few couches and armchairs strewn about the place. You had insisted on the addition of a few plants here and there, and you noticed after a suggestion to Greef Karga that he should strike a deal with Cara’s flower shop to have some bouquets for the customers to admire, a day later fresh peonies appeared without comment on the magazine and newspaper stand.

You managed to sneak in the door just before the clock hit 6:50 AM and shuffled your way to the counter, stowing your bag beneath the counter and working off your scarf and sweater so you could tie the apron around your waist and pin your nametag to your shirt. Just as you were tying your hair back a voice from behind you made you jump.

“Morning, sunshine!”

You laughed, hand having jumped to your chest in shock as you turned to face the smiling man.

“Morning, G. What’s on the menu today?”

“Blueberry muffins, which I know you’re partial to so I’ll turn a blind eye if one goes missing.” He was placing the tray in the glass cupboard by the register when something caught your eye outside. The blur of dark hair and jacket walking past.

You shook your head, disappointed in yourself for lingering on the thought of the stranger even while on the clock.

The thought of him quickly took a backseat in your mind once the doors to the café opened and your other coworkers arrived, it was only moments before customers flooded in, desperate for their morning coffee and bagel to go, a few lingered here and there, but there was a steady stream of people which only dwindled around 10am. You knew it wouldn’t be long before lunch rush so you began to clean the tables near the window. You looked up to see Greef standing near the door outside, aimlessly scrolling his phone with one hand, burning cigarette in the other. You smiled and looked back towards the table, but something in you made you return your gaze to him only moments later. You nearly jumped, startled for the second time today as you saw him, the mystery man in the leather jacket standing there talking to your boss, holding something beneath one arm.

His brows were furrowed you noticed, spending more than a few seconds taking in his features now he was in broad daylight, eyes lingering on his lips, hiding beneath a moustache. A small movement caught your eye and you realized he was holding a small puppy, with rather large ears. You couldn’t tear your eyes away, you only stood and stared as he continued a rather serious and animated conversation with Karga. 

The two men shared one last word before the man with the brown eyes turned to leave. 

“Hey, wait!” You shouted, finally pulled from your trance. Of course he couldn’t hear you through the glass, but your coworkers and a few remaining customers sure did and they tuned to look just as you darted to the door and stepped onto the street.

You were too late, he was already gone. You only caught glimpse of the patch sewn onto the back of his jacket, two indistinguishable words above an embroidered image of a strangely shaped helmet.

You stood, breathless, beside your boss. Without turning to him you asked, “Who is he?”

“Who, him?” He replied, gesturing with the hand that held the nearly burnt out cigarette. “You don’t have to worry about him, kid.”

You didn’t ask any more questions; very aware of the way he had avoided your question.

The day then passed painfully slowly, you couldn’t help but check your watch every few minutes, always letting out an exasperated sigh, as you realized no more than twenty minutes had past. 

You nearly ran out the door when your shift ended, hurriedly saying goodbye to your coworkers as you pulled off your apron and haphazardly shoved on your sweater and scarf. You planned to ambush Cara and demand to know who the man was as soon as you got home.

It wasn’t until you were halfway home that you caught your reflection in the window of a shop, sweater on backwards, nose and cheeks flushed from the cool afternoon air and hair flying in all directions that you thought you were being slightly ridiculous about the whole thing.

You kept your eyes on your reflection for a moment as you walked, trying to tame your fly-aways and just as you turned you slammed into something solid and felt yourself topple backwards, landing on your backside with a large huff as the air was knocked from your lungs.

It took you a moment to realize you hadn’t run unto a lamp-post as you initially assumed, but a man.

“We have to stop meeting like this.” 

You couldn’t believe your luck. It was him.

He reached an arm out to help you up, hand lingering just higher than your nose. You took a moment to run your eyes from the tips of his black boots to his face looking down at you. You scrambled to your feet without his help and timidly held the strap of your bag to your chest.

“I-“ You began to speak, but suddenly you became all to aware of your heart hammering in your chest as your eyes met with his. 

You quickly rushed past him, eyes trained on the pavement ahead of you as you power walked all the way home, not stopping for a moment until you were in the door of your dorm room.

You let out a huge breath and finally released your hands from the strap of your bag. It took you a moment to register the apartment was empty.

“Damn it, Cara.” You muttered to yourself.

Cara found you, a few hours later curled up on your bed, fully dressed and fast asleep on top of the covers. When she shut the door behind her you jumped awake.

“Don’t worry, Y/N, it’s just me.” She called, moving to take off her boots and sit on her bed, parallel to yours on the opposite wall closest to the door. 

“I fell asleep.” You said hazily.

“I can see that.” Cara laughed a deeply.

“Who was the man in the leather jacket last night? The one with brown eyes?”

“Oh yeah my day was great thanks for asking.” Cara said with a roll of her eyes and a smile. “Brown eyes, huh?” She smirked at you with an all knowing look that only Cara could pull off, she always looked at you like she knew your every thought. Honestly sometimes you thought she might. “He’s trouble, Y/N. That’s what he is.” She paused to look you over and you tried desperately not to squirm under her scrutiny.   
“Now, more importantly, what do you want to eat?” Cara finally spoke, you noticed how she, much like Greef Karga, had dodged the question.


	3. Coffee?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally some quality time with the man himself.

Three days had passed since your run in with so called “Trouble”, yet your fascination had not waned. You had been persistent in questioning Cara about the man’s identity and only gleamed from her a few facts: he was in some kind of motorcycle gang (you felt this was obvious but none the less were satisfied to know) and he was apparently not on the right side of the law. Besides that Cara was a steel trap.

You were thinking about him and how you might not ever see him again as you worked in the coffee shop that afternoon, stuck beneath a table trying to fit folded paper under the wobbly leg as a substitute for a real fix. You were deep in thought, on all fours, happily minding your business in a quiet moment before you saw a pair of black boots standing before you and you heard the clearing of a throat.

You scrunched your eyes closed and cursed to yourself, daring yourself to open your eyes again. Finally when you mustered the courage to open your eyes and look up at the owner of the boots you were unsurprised to see it was the man who had occupied your thoughts consistently the last few days.

“Can I help you?” You called out to him, realizing he was staring down at you with a smirk. You couldn’t help but notice he still wore his leather jacket inside, unzipped so you could see a worn gray t-shirt beneath.

“Do you do this on purpose?” He responded with a chuckle, it took you a moment to realize he meant that this wasn’t the first time he had found you on the floor.

You let out and angry sigh and began to rise to your feet, “No, you just-Ouch! Shit.”

You hadn’t completely cleared the edge of the table when you had tried to stand, and now you sat at his feet once more, a hand pressed to the back of your head and a frown on your face.

He looked down at you, smirk still present, and reached out a hand which you begrudgingly took and he helped you to your feet.

The moment you were safely on two feet you pulled your hand from his, trying desperately to focus on anything but the feeling of his warm but rough hands and his long fingers. You shuffled awkwardly on your feet and wrapped your arms around your chest, raising your head defensively, trying to not be embarrassed that every time this man had met you, you had made somewhat of a fool in front of him.

“What do you want?” You asked him, purposefully trying to match his gaze but quickly failing as you felt your heart rate increase at the feeling of his eyes meeting your own.

“Coffee?”

“Well you can order at the counter over th-“ You began to answer before he interrupted you.

“No, I meant with you.”

“Oh.” He had completely taken you off guard, and the tough persona you were attempting to put on wavered and your hands lowered. “Well I don’t finish for another twenty minutes.”

“Great, I’ll just wait here then, shall I?”

You stood in awed silence and watched him sit down at the very table you had just been attempting to fix. He leaned back into the chair, one arm resting on the chairs back, the other rested on the water ring marked table.

“O-okay.” You stared at him a moment longer before hurriedly turning and rushing back to the counter. Once there you couldn’t help but look back at him as if to check he was real. And he was. He nodded back at you and you snapped your head back to the register in front of you, feeling entirely too grateful that a customer had walked in the door.

For the next twenty minutes you felt your heart might give out at any moment, it was like a small humming bird, beating so fast it was practically a vibration. What could he possibly want with me, you wondered.

When the twenty minutes were up you slowly, and with every once of your concentration, removed your apron and pulled your sweater over your head, taking a moment to flatten any fly aways before you said your farewells to your coworkers and went to stand before the man.

He was still sitting in the exact same spot, except his attention was now on the newspaper before him. When you stopped beside him he looked up with a smile that made your frantic heartbeat almost stop entirely.

This was getting ridiculous, you thought.

“Ready to go?” He asked, to which you responded with a small nod. “Alright, well there’s just one stop we have to make along the way.”

And with that he led you out to the side walk and down the street for a few blocks. Neither of you said a word as you walked besides one another, occasionally you would peak to your side to sneak a glimpse and every time his eyes met yours, just as before, and your eyes snapped back to the sidewalk in front of you.  
Finally you broke the silence, “Where are we going? You’re not taking me to some abandoned building to murder me or anything right?”

He chuckled deeply, “No, not today. I know Cara would come for me and I’m not ready to take her on, not after last time.” 

“Last time?” You asked with raised eyebrows.

“Well, here we are.” He had stopped outside the half open door of a mechanic’s garage, “I’ll be back in a moment.”

Before you had a chance to respond he ducked under a roller door and you heard a muffled exchange between him and a woman. You studied the chipped green paint of the door and noticed red words, only half visible on the roller door. After some squinting you decided it read Peli’s Place in cursive with a solid 3-5 written beneath. 

A few moments later he returned, and not alone, he was carrying a small, wriggling and squeaking puppy. 

You couldn’t have stopped the smile that grew on your face if you tried. He passed the large-eared mass of fur over to you and the do instantly began to lick your face and whine with happiness, his tail beating against you. The rough little tongue covering you with a thin sheen of dog drool, that you couldn’t find within yourself to be upset about. You laughed the kind of happy and satisfied laugh that indicated happiness of which only a dog was capable of bringing. The man watched the pair of you carefully, working hard to suppress a grin.

“Is this the little trouble maker from the alley?” 

“The one and only.” He replied as you passed the dog back to him, he clipped a leash to his collar and bent to place him on the ground. “Do you want him?” He seemed entirely reluctant to ask this question, but you were in too much shock to analyze his tone too deeply.

“Me?!” You practically gasped, looking down at the dog whose tongue hung from a grinning mouth, big warm eyes staring up at you. “Oh I wish I could but I live in a dorm room. I – I have no where for him.” Your heart broke at the thought of the dog being left at the pound and you wondered if you could sneak him in. You were halfway through imagining an elaborate plan when he spoke once more. 

“Well. That’s alright. He seems to like my apartment just fine.” He almost seemed to speak with the air of relief and when you looked at him you couldn’t help but notice the completely smitten look on his face as he looked down at the dog. “I already checked and he doesn’t seem to have another owner. So I guess you’re stuck with me, kid.” He spoke the last part while looking down at the small creature whose ears seemed almost larger than his body. His small little legs shaking as his tail flopped back and forth.

“Coffee?” He asked for the second time that day.

He had led you to the central park that wasn’t too far from campus and bought you both a hot drink from a street vendor and a hot dog for his four legged companion.

The puppy happily chewed away at it while the both of you talked on a park bench. Cool autumn air shifted dried leaves around across concrete and grass and you couldn’t help but deeply inhale, your eyes closing in a moment of bliss. You could’ve sworn you caught just the slightest scent of cologne, but you chose to ignore this fact.

“You sure have a nice right hook.” He said.

You noticed the way his hair was messy, but somehow completely perfect before you laughed.

“Yeah well, he deserved it.” You replied, clenching and unclenching the fingers of your right hand and taking a sip from the Styrofoam cup.

“He definitely got what he deserved.” Something about the way he spoke, the menace hiding behind his words made you nervous. Before you had a chance to question him he spoke again, “So how do you know Cara Dune?”

“We’re roommates. We have been since freshman year. She’s my best friend.” You held yourself back from gushing over Cara, a smile wide on your face, you really did love your friend, she had been there for you over the past two years through everything and you had done the same for her and in return for your support and caring she gave you her unwavering loyalty. That, and a bunch of friends who rode motorbikes and would ride through hell for you. You felt so grateful to have ever met her or the people whose family was The Rebellion. “But the real question is, how do you know Cara.”

He paused to look at his hands in his lap wrapped around his own cup steaming in the crisp air. You took your chance to freely look him over while he was thinking. Taking note of the shape between his nose and mouth, the way his deep brown eyes were framed by those brows that always appeared furrowed in concentration. You watched each muscle in his hand move and began to trace the shape of his wrist where it met the cuff of the leather jacket that had been haunting your dreams for the past few days. It looked faded and worn and you could spot a small hole here and there, but mostly it looked supple and soft.

“Let’s just say she also has a great right hook.” He chuckled before continuing, “No, Cara’s helped me out of some rough situations a few times. We just don’t always see eye to eye on everything.”

You hummed an acknowledgement and nodded. Suddenly his watch face caught your eye in the midst of your analysis of his dangerously attractive hands.

“Crap!”

“Crap?”

You rushed to your feet, “I’m going to be late for work!”

“Work? You were just at work?” He followed you to a standing position, eyebrows furrowed once more.

“I also work at the library on my college campus, I have to go, I’m sorry.” You had never before regretted so fully the idea of the library. You desperately wanted to stay and talk to him.

“Well, I’ll see you around then, Y/N.” He began to walk away, coffee cup in one hand leash in the other, and before you turned and prepared to run quite gracelessly to campus you finally caught sight of the words on his back patch. The Guild.

You were startled to realize you had forgot to ask his name.


	4. The Cantina

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things heat up in this chapter as the reader discovers a little more about the mystery man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How is everyone feeling after the season finale?   
> I hope you enjoy the little original trilogy references in this chapter!!

You were beyond grateful when your shift ended and you looked up from the library desk to see Cara’s imposing figure standing before you, clad in leather and holding a motorcycle helmet in each hand. The two of you grinned at each other in delight.

You had gotten used to riding on the back of her bike over the past two years and you had finally reached a level of comfort with the whole thing where you could actually enjoy it and not feel like you were going to fly off at any moment. Your hands were wrapped around her waist and your head rested on her shoulder, watching the cars, streetlights and pedestrians fly past on the short journey back to the dorm room.

You felt refreshed jumping of the bike and pulling the helmet off to reveal your messy helmet-hair. You watched as Cara dismounted the bike and pulled of her helmet, you thought for a moment that she could make anything look cool. You felt a little of Cara’s courage rub off on you as you stood in the dim parking level.

“So I had coffee with a friend of yours today.” You said, helmet held against your stomach.

Cara paused as she was taking of her jacket and making sure the bike was parker correctly, “Who?” She looked up to read your expression, and yet again you felt she knew your exact thoughts, “Oh, Y/N. Not him. Really?” 

Your courage waned slightly but you were relieved that she wasn’t upset, she only sounded slightly frustrated. You followed her as she began to walk to the stairs and begin the climb to your second story room. You voice echoed in the empty garage floor, “Are you going to tell me who he is yet? A name at least.”

You rushed up the stairs behind Cara, your small legs not keeping up with her large strides. She huffed out a sigh, and it wasn’t from the cardio exercise. She stooped outside the door to your level and before going through and without turning back to look at you said one word, “Mando.”

“What?” You sped to follow her into your hall and waited beside her in the dull, flickering luminescent lighting as she fiddled with her keys and turned the lock.

She didn’t speak again until you were both inside the small studio apartment. She dropped the keys on the entryway table and began to take off her boots and hang her jacket after flicking on the soft lights. 

You waited patiently, moving to the small and rather neglected couch that you had, just off to the right of the front door, a barrier between the “bedroom” area and the “kitchen”, which was just spread across a single counter on the adjacent wall. 

You peeked over the back of the couch at Cara, your own shoes abandoned on the floor as you curled up, arms folded beneath your chin, you knew Cara was finally going to tell you something. At least you hoped.

“They call him The Mandalorian, or well, mostly just Mando. The Guild do, I mean.”

“And am I supposed to know what any of that sentence means?” 

Cara rolled her eyes and walked to the kitchen wall, bending down to retrieve two sodas from the mini fridge. Sitting on the couch beside you, you both took a sip of your drinks in the moment before she replied.

“The Guild are an underground organization led by Greef Karga and Mando is one of them, no one knows his name. They just call him ‘The Mandalorian’.” Cara didn’t say anymore, and her body language suggested to you that she was done talking about the matter.

“Greef?!” You practically shouted in shock, you eyes flying up to your hair-line and your mouth dropping open slightly. You had always known Greef was more than just a small business owner, you knew he owned a bar that you and Cara often visited called The Cantina. And while you knew he wasn’t always exactly on the right side of the law, you didn’t realize he was some secret Mafia don. Although you weren’t sure that was the right way to put it. 

You weren’t exactly a goody-two shoes and you had your fair share of hatred for the cops, but compared to Cara, and apparently Greef Karga, you were a model citizen.

For Cara to be so reserved about this man, The Mandalorian, you knew he had to be involved in something really serious. You figured he had done something before his involvement with Greef Karga, or else Cara wouldn’t let you work at the coffee shop.

Cara only shrugged in response to your surprise and took another sip of her soda, standing and walking to the other end of the apartment. You watched her go, walking between the space between either of your beds and into the door that led to the bathroom. You heard the shower start and turned to look out the large windows that took up nearly a whole wall of the apartment, including the wall beside your own bed. You stayed there gazing out at the opposing apartments lit up in the darkness and couldn’t help but find your mind wander.

\--- 

A few days passed without incident, nearly a week in fact. Classes had started back and you were as busy as ever between working and studying. You found yourself on break at the coffee shop, nose buried in textbooks or in the library, taking notes in the evenings when you had a spare moment. 

Not once that week had you seen him again, the man Cara named Mando. The name didn’t sit right with you and it didn’t help that you knew if was just a pseudonym. You felt you were never going to know more about him than that. And it bothered you, you weren’t sure why exactly, but it truly did get under your skin. 

Just as frequently as you found yourself studying, you found yourself thinking of him, mostly his eyes and the way he watched you like predator stalking prey. You also frequently thought of the small puppy, hoping it was well and cared for. You secretly promised yourself to buy it toys if you ever had the chance.

You couldn’t help but feel that this fascination was ridiculous, and you needed to let it go. You hadn’t seen him in a week and yet he still plagued you. Why him? You thought, Just a bad boy with brown eyes. Trouble, just as Cara had said.

By the time Friday had come around you were determined to just forget all about him, and to aid you in that thought you were assisted by a bottle of red wine.

You had arrived home that night, trusty brown paper bag hiding your distraction tactic, as the sun was setting. A delicate orange light drifted into the apartment, which you had to yourself, for now. You decided to go all out and pamper yourself, soaking in the small tub that was a complete blessing in student accommodation and sipping your wine.

Many bubbles and two glasses of wine later you heard Cara walk in the door and call out to you.

“I’m in here!” You shouted, pulling bubbles up around your chest and hoping that Cara wouldn’t notice the wine induced flush on your cheeks.

She leant on the door frame and didn’t question you for a moment, she was more than used to you and your coping mechanisms. 

“Tough day, huh?” She asked, a hint of sympathy in her tone.

She crossed her strong arms across her chest and tipped her head to the side.

“C’mon, kid. Get dressed. We’re going out.”

One more glass of wine and a little black dress later you and Cara found yourselves squashed into a table at The Cantina joined by the usual suspects of friends you both shared.

You felt victorious in your mission to forget the mystery man, basking in the joy of good company and feeling more than a little tipsy. You passed the hours there happily, occasionally getting up to dance with a friend or two when a particularly good song came on. You were so distracted in fact, that you didn’t notice two men in suits sitting at the bar and watching you from across the room. 

When the song ended you felt sweat on your body and fanned yourself with a hand. You leaned in close to Cara’s ear to tell her you were going to get some water and then would be right back.

“No more alley ways alright, Y/N?”

You laughed and made your way to the bar. The Cantina had been a sports bar before Greef had bought it, belonging to a man you believed was named Lando something, and the remnants of its memorabilia littered the walls. Old sports pennants, newspaper clippings and photographs scattered across the mirror behind the bar. As you waited for the bartender you noticed a framed photograph and an inscription that read “Beer Drinking Champion 1979: Han Solo”. You studied the photograph with a faint smile on your lips, a very handsome man was the center of the photograph, a huge smile on his face as he held up an oversized an empty beer glass. Beside him were two other men, one with long hair and a beard and the other who looked almost to young to be in a bar in the first place. Behind him, with arm wrapped around his shoulder was a young woman with dark hair in braids and a gorgeous smile.

Your attention was drawn back to the bartender and you quickly threw back the tall iced water you ordered. You took a moment to look back to the dance floor, a new addition by Greef Karga, and observed your friends laughing together. You felt relaxed and content as you decided to make a quick trip to the ladies to splash some water on your face.

When you exited the bathroom into a small hallway that led back to the bar you were stopped in your tracks. There, leaning against the wall and looking straight at you was the Mandalorian. You couldn’t help the smile that burst onto your face and you walked up to him, matching his gaze. His eyes trailed you from your feet up to your face, resting there as you stood before him. In your slightly drunken state you felt overly brave and openly happy to see him.

“You again.” You spoke, words only slightly slurred.

“Me again.” He replied, relatively straight faced, eyes still trained on you. You looked to what his was wearing and almost wanted to laugh.

“Do you ever change? Or do you just have a closet like a cartoon character?”

Your question broke his serious expression into a grin and he looked down at himself.

“A gentleman never reveals his secrets.” 

You smiled at him and slowly it registered in your brain that you were standing awfully close to him, or perhaps he to you, in the small corridor. He must have realized it too, but only stood up straight and began to move beside you. You turned in response to his movements, oblivious to his motives. Your back was now against one wall, and his the opposite. You both stood and looked at each other in silence, the loud cacophony of the bar seeming far away, as if the pair of you were in a fishbowl cut off from the world.

You noticed him step closer and you practically gulped. You felt heat rising in your cheeks; you must have been as red as a tomato, you thought. Your eyes darted between his face and his chest, liquid courage wearing off.

You were about to speak when he reached up, hand resting in the air an inch or two from your cheek, he paused before gently tucking a lose hair behind your ear. Your eyelids felt heavy and you gazed up at him from beneath your lashes. Suddenly it wasn’t just your face that felt hot. You felt a warmth pooling between your legs and you bit your lip. You noticed him looking at your lips.

“I’ve been thinking of you a lot this week.” It took an eternity for the words he spoke to register.

“You have?” Your voice had gained a breathless quality to it, and your eyes drifted down him face, taking in every curve of his nose and mouth before darting back up to his deep brown eyes.

“I have.” He began to lean in even closer, a hand now resting beside your head on the wall. “And I think the dog misses you. We’d like to see you again.”

You only had the strength to nod, your mind felt foggy and intoxicated, not from the alcohol but his sweet, warm breath against your face.

Your heart stopped in your chest, which was rising and falling quite dramatically with your deepened breaths, his eyes flickered down for a moment to observe this, as well as your body in the tight black dress Cara had insisted you buy. You only wore it tonight to placate her, but you were so thankful that you did, just for this moment.

The Mandalorian’s eyes lingered on your lips just a moment longer before he leaned in closer, and closer, until his nose was practically touching yours. You felt your thighs clench together and you inhaled sharply.

He looked up at your eyes for a moment, and then leaned forward once more, only this time changing course. His lips brushed gently against your cheek and your eyes fluttered closed.

If you thought you felt warm before, you were on fire now.

You felt like you could happily live in that moment forever, but it was over as quickly as it had begun.

He pulled back, “I’ll see you soon.”

“Promise?” You were surprised you had found your voice.

“Promise.”

And without another words he walked back into the busy bar and disappeared from your sight.

It took you a full two minutes to recover your composure and join your friends back at the table.

You grinned from ear to ear the rest of the night, never once noticing the two men at the bar who’s eyes never left you.


	5. Stalker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader finds themselves in a tricky situation, but as per-usual, Mando is here to save the day.
> 
> TW for light stalking, minor panic attack
> 
> Return of the mystery suit man

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all your kind comments! It truly means so much to me!

“Soon. What the hell does soon mean anyway?” You were on your break at the coffee shop in the backroom, shoveling food into your face while chatting to Cara on your cell. “It’s been three days and nothing.” You wiped a stray bit of cream cheese from your upper lip between sentences and continued to chew on your bagel.

“Relax, Y/N. Besides the fact, and believe me I hate to say it, I warned you, it has only been three days.” Cara’s voice fought through the static of the bad connection.  
You hadn’t told Cara about your run in with Mando, at least until you couldn’t hold back anymore. Which happened to be Saturday morning, the day after. You chose your moment wisely, you had handed Cara a fresh cup of coffee. She was hardly awake when you told her. You had stood in front of her, best puppy eyes you could muster, wearing nothing but an oversize flannel and a pair of fuzzy socks. You had chosen the moment where Cara was not quite awake yet, but awake enough to break the news to her. 

Obviously you chose the time perfectly because all she did was reply with a sleepy eyed grunt and a nod until two hours later she stormed over to you on the couch; where you sat with headphones in, reading a book. Pulling one ear bud out you looked up at her as she spoke. She had told you that she respected you enough to make your own decisions, but she also loved you enough to kick anybody’s ass that even thought about hurting you or “dragging you into trouble”.

It was now mid morning the following Monday and you hadn’t seen or heard a thing from him. Usually in a situation like this you’d be relatively calm and collected. But usually you’d be the one waiting three days to call a guy back, you had never been the one to chase anything, but you realized that’s why you were nervous.

You thought he mustn’t really care. You were practically strangers after all, you reasoned to yourself as you shoved the last bite of the bagel in your mouth, listening to Cara complain about the plumbing she was trying to fix in the apartment.

“Gotta go, C, I’ll see you this afternoon okay?”

The morning rush faded into the lunch rush and you didn’t end up being able to check your phone until 4pm when your shift ended. You were absent-mindedly checking notifications while chatting to Greef about the new coffee beans he had brought in when you saw a text from an unknown number.

Unknown Contact  
1 image attached

You warily opened the text, half expecting a scam or some unsolicited dick pic. Instead you were greeted by a picture of the cutest puppy you had ever seen and one you had found yourself missing greatly. You couldn’t help but stop and look down at your phone with a grin and Greef was quick to pick up on it and ended the conversation about coffee.

You apologized and said your goodbyes, the stupid smile never once leaving your face. You stuffed your phone into the back pocket of your jeans and zipped up the large puffy jacket you had chosen for the day, mind distracted by the photograph.

The weather was beginning to grow colder and the sun was setting earlier. The light outside already fading as the sun dipped beneath the line of skyscrapers that looked down on the city streets.

Most people were shut away in doors avoiding the cold or still in their offices waiting for the last few hours of the day to end so the streets were relatively quiet as you made your way home. You had decided to walk, feeling fuelled and energetic from the surprise text message.

That energy quickly waned, while you were only a few blocks and a park away, the weather nipped at you and you felt yourself begin to shiver despite your layers. You buried your hands in your pockets, resigned to walk the rest of the way as you had missed the subway or bus stops that led to campus.

Just as you were reasoning with yourself that the warm bath that was waiting for you would back home was all worth it, you suddenly became aware of the sound of a second pair of footfalls echoing off the pavement in a way that sent a shiver down your spine. You continued to walk but tried to peek a glance over your shoulder. You only allowed yourself a moment to look, but the image was burnt into your brain. A tall man wearing a plain black suit and tie was walking only a few feet behind you. Usually you wouldn’t worry, but the number of people on the street was waning and the sun had set, leaving only the dim glow of after light and streetlamps.

Your stomach churned, you tried to convince yourself it was nothing but something made your intuition tingle. For a moment you considered taking a slick u-turn back to the café but you were more than halfway home. Something in the back of your mind reached out to you and warned you not to let him see where you lived, even if Cara was there it didn’t feel like a smart idea. You tried to reason with yourself that he wasn’t even following you, but a few minutes later and he was still there.

You kept trying to tell your self it was nothing, but you could feel the man’s pace quicken. You decided the best thing to do was to talk to Cara on the phone and take a detour, maybe try circle back around the man and lose him just before campus.

You pulled your phone from your back pocket and hit the first number under ‘Recent’. You listened to the tone call out twice, cautiously sneaking another glance behind you. You muttered a small ‘Shit’ under your breath just before the phone connected.

“Hello?” The gruff voice completely took you off guard, you were expecting Cara’s sing-song hello.

You mentally cursed again, it was him, he was the last person who texted you after all.

“Oh-Hello. Um- It’s Y/N.”

“I know.” You heard him laugh on the other side, his voice deeper than usual and you thought you could hear the rustle of sheets.

“Did I wake you? I’m sorry this is awkward I actually meant to call Cara.” The words raced out of your mouth, you hadn’t realized how nervous you had become. You also wondered why he was in bed at 4:30 on a Monday afternoon. You noticed your hand shaking slightly as it held the phone against your ear. You passed it off to yourself as being cold and stuffed the other hand in your pocket, ducking your nose into your jacket collar. You heard the man behind you clear his throat, he had dropped his pace slightly.

“Y/N, are you okay?”

You decided it would be better to stay on the phone than to risk hanging up, you were beginning to think of the pepper spray Cara had gifted you that was laying at the bottom of your other handbag in the apartment.

“Well,” You lowered your voice slightly at the chance the man was close enough to hear. You quickly darted across the street, making the right turn aspect of your u-turn plan. “I’m just on my way home from work and uh-“ You clenched your fisted hand hiding in your jacket pocket as you looked over your shoulder yet again. He was still there. “Shit. I’m being followed.” Your voice cracked as you said the last part.

He answered almost the moment you finished your sentence. Where are you? I’m on my way right now.” You could hear the sound of a zipper at the other end and the closing of a door.

“I-it’s okay really. I’m about to hit Coruscant and 14th. I’m going to go back to work.”

“I’m going to need you to keep going till 15th and I’ll meet you there okay, I’ll come find you. I’m close.”

“Oh no! Really, I’m okay thank you. I just wanted to talk to someone, while I walked back to the Café.”

“Sweetheart the coffee shop will be closed, it’s nearly 5.”

You practically stopped in your tracks, but quickly sped up again. You weren’t sure what had shocked you most, the casual use of the nickname of the fact you had forgotten the café would be closed.

“Oh. Right.” Was all you could manage.

You were nearly at 15th street now and you pushed your pace to a power walk. Slowly a figure came into view and you felt relief wash over you. 

“I see you. I see him too, don’t look back but he’s stopped.” 

It didn’t take a lot of effort for you to just keep your eyes trained on the dark figure you were getting closer and closer to. You noticed he was wearing gray sweat pants but still wore his leather jacket. You looked to the phone pressed to his ear and couldn’t help but smile at his obvious bed head. 

Once you were practically six feet in front of him you hung up the phone and slid it into your back pocket again.

You stopped in front of him, heart now pounding in your chest for more than one reason. He also pocketed his phone and gestured his head to the side leading you up the stairs into an apartment building. You noticed the way his hand lingered at the small of your back and his eyes looked past you down the street. You never looked back to confirm it, but you could tell from the glimmer of rage in his expression he was staring down the man who followed you.

Once inside, door safely locked you let him lead you up the stairs, one flight to a small hallway, he pulled out his keys and ushered you into his apartment.

It took you a moment to get your bearings; the thought crossed your mind that you might’ve been safer on the street for all you knew. Before you had time to fully process it a small ball of fluff catapulted itself at you from your feet and made you jump back and smack into a solid brick of muscle. 

“Relax, it’s just the kid.” The Mandalorian moved past you in the small entryway and leant down as he went, scooping up the yelping puppy who was shaking with joy. “Come take a seat.” You followed him through the small entry way into the open space of a lounge room and kitchen. The walls were bare brick, interrupted by large industrial looking windows. You took in the minimal furniture, all in dark neutral tones as you sat yourself down on a plush brown leather couch. 

It took you a few moments to realize you were shaking and you let out a nervous laugh. 

Without a word he passed you the small bundle of joy that was all wet kisses and nibbles and left to the kitchen portion of the space behind you. You vaguely were aware of the door in front of you next to the TV and the corner of the bed you could see beyond it.

You could barely focus on the dog who had settled into your lap and was beginning to fall asleep. You mindlessly petted him, trying to become more aware of his soft fur beneath your fingers, trying to pull yourself back to earth and failing.

You jumped again when Mando returned, placing a steaming cup in front of you on the coffee table. He took a seat beside you, leaving more than two feet of space between you and him. You looked up at him and noticed the concern in his eyes. It was then you felt the warmth of the tears on your cheeks.

You began to wipe them away with a quiet, “Oh.”

You smiled a weak, halfhearted smile at him. “Thank you. I should probably call Cara and go. I’m sorry for all the trouble.”

“Stay here for a minute. Catch your breath.” His words sounded genuine, but he seemed distracted. The man stood and walked to the window, looking down at the street. “I’ll call Cara.”

He pulled his phone from his pocket and after half a second of searching raised it to his ear. Cara must’ve gave him my number, you thought, she must have thought I was desperate. How embarrassing.

“It’s me.” His tone suddenly became serious and firm, you felt a shiver down your spine. He paused for a moment and you could here Cara’s strong voice from where you sat. “Listen,” He interrupted her, “Y/N is here with me. Some Imperial fucker was following her.”

You could hear Cara’s expletives through the phone and Mando pulled it away from his ear slightly. “She’s safe with me, he’s still outside. No-No-listen-If you come here and take her home he’ll only follow you. She can stay with me until he leaves, then you can come take her back, he must not know where she lives. No of course I don’t know what the slimy fuck wants with her.” You could hear more cursing. “I know I’m not your favorite person, Dune, but I know for a fact that she is,” 

He turned from the window to look at you now and his gaze went straight through you. “I also know that beating the shit out of some Imp is not going to solve our problem.” When he finished speaking he turned back to the window and looked out to the dark streets for a minute as he listened to your best friend talk. “I promise.” He said, and hung up the phone. He walked along the south facing wall, closing the blinds to all the windows one by one, stopping at the last to look once more at the street below.

He came to sit by you once more, maintaining the gentlemanly distance. Something about that made him even more fascinating to you than before.

“You’re staying with me tonight.” It wasn’t a question.

You looked up at him and realized for the first time that he was quite a tall man, even sitting beside you, you had to raise your head slightly. You sniffled. Suddenly you felt every drop of energy leaving your body, as if the tide was going out.

“Okay.” You couldn’t find the energy to argue with him. You looked down at the puppy sleeping on your lap peacefully. 

“I’ll find you some clothes and you can shower. I’ll get you something to eat.” He was up and out of the room before you could tell him not to worry. He really was a man of few words when it came down to it. 

\----  
You felt some what more relaxed after the hot shower, you had taken your time and weren’t above peeking in his bathroom cupboards. Nearly thirty minutes later you found yourself gently padding out of the bathroom and back to the couch you had first sat on. The soft wool socks you wore padded your footfalls as you made your way into the living room. The puppy hadn’t moved and looked up at you with a happy way of his tail. You crept up to sit beside him, noticing a pile of blankets and a pillow there. 

You caught sight of the back of the man who’s sweatpants and pullover you were currently wearing. He was cooking in the kitchen, focusing incredibly hard over the stove. You couldn’t help but smile.

You felt too drained to even process the events of the day, let alone the fact you were standing in this man’s apartment, wearing his clothes. You began to busy yourself with the attempt to turn the couch into a bed, all the while trying not to disturb the puppy when his voice called out to you. “Don’t worry about that, you can have the bed tonight.”

You jumped back, slightly startled yet again, your nerves appeared to be on a short fuse after the stalking incident. You didn’t have a chance to protest before he spoke again.

“Dinner’s ready.”

As you made your way to the kitchen counter where he had placed a plate, you realized something was different about him. You blamed your exhaustion for the fact you only just noticed the leather jacket hanging on the back of the chair next to the one you now sat in. 

You eyes darted up to look at him, back turned again, muscles dancing under a thin short-sleeved t shirt as he flipped a grilled cheese sandwich in a skillet. You swallowed and bit your lip, looking down at the sandwich in front of you. It wasn’t until he sat beside you that you willed yourself to eat. You both sat in silence until you were done. It was excruciating, but you weren’t sure how to break it, it took every ounce of concentration not to look at his bare arms.

Finally he spoke, “You must be tired, please, the bedroom is all yours.” 

He gestured to the door beside the one you had exited from the bathroom, the one which caught your eye the moment you entered the room. You tried to suppress the nervous energy that arose as his mention of the word ‘bedroom’.

You felt his eyes on you as you walked over to it, pausing a moment by the couch to lean down and kiss the sleeping puppy’s forehead, “Goodnight.” You whispered.

Stopping in the door you turned back, his eyes met yours from the kitchen. “Goodnight, Y/N. I’ll be out here if you need me.”

“Goodnight.” You said, closing the door.

You almost sore you heard him whisper, “Sweet Dreams.”

You lingered for a moment, both hands pressed into the door, daring yourself to turn around. When you did you were pleasantly surprised. The room was large, but simple. The large bed was the only real feature of the room, sided by two small tables each housing a lamp. The room was lit by only one of those lamps and the moonlight drifting between the cracks in the blinds.

You gingerly stepped into bed, pulling soft covers around yourself and as you reached for the light switch you noticed the only decoration in the whole room, a framed picture beside the simple lamp. Three smiling faces stared back at you for a moment before you clicked the light off. In the darkness the day seemed to hit you, the reality of where you were and what had happened. You couldn’t dwell on it for long, buried in soft blankets that smelt like worn leather, sandalwood and the faintest musk of sweat. You breathed it in deeply, sheets pulled around your nose as you drifted to sleep.

You thought only of the three smiling faces in the photograph before the darkness took you under, a little boy with familiar brown eyes between his parents.

That same boy, now a man, sat not far outside the bedroom. Perched on an open window he lit a cigarette as he watched the street below.


	6. Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You find yourself in the bed of the notorious Mandalorian, just not in the way you were hoping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick chapter today! Thank you all so so much for you kind words of encouragement! It's been hugely motivating and I'm having such a fun time writing this one, I've decided it will probably be around 10 chapters.
> 
> Please feel free to send any one shot or head canon requests here: https://mandoandgrogu.tumblr.com/ask

When you woke up it took you a few minutes to figure out where you were. You had migrated into the center of his large bed as you slept and the morning light was still blue and barely lit the room. 

You stayed within your cocoon of blankets for a moment, finding your bearings, breathing in the smell you had come to realize was him. 

You tried to find your phone before realizing it was still in your jeans pocket, you had left them crumpled on the bathroom floor, too shell-shocked to think about it when you left them there the evening before.

In the fresh morning light you felt yesterday’s events lingering in your mind. It was finally really hitting you that you were curled up in his bed, in his apartment. You almost wanted to laugh, over the past few weeks you had thought often of what it would be like to lay in this bed, you had just hoped he would be there with you.

You suddenly realized you could hear a deep musical humming from beyond the closed bedroom door and the smell of fresh coffee that finally tempted you from the warm blankets.

You tried to make the bed as you left it, stopping to look back at it for a second and take it to memory, you assumed you’d never be in this room again. At least something good had come from the drama of yesterday.

You held your hand for a moment too long on the cool metal of the door knob, raising a hand to your lips where a smile grew. The humming had to be coming from him you realised. When you opened the door your suspicions were confirmed. The Mandalorian was humming quietly to himself as his coffee brewed, the soft music from a record player in the corner filling the apartment with low comforting tones.

“Morning.” You quietly greeted him, still standing in the doorway. He looked up in surprise at your voice and smiled when he saw you. He liked the look of you standing there, waistband of his large sweatpants folded around your waist and small hands sticking out of the sleeves of his sweatshirt. Your sleepy morning face was accompanied by a wild mess of hair that made him smirk.

You couldn’t help but think the man was some kind of secret God to be fully dressed at whatever ridiculously early hour it was, and to look as good as he did. You noticed the leather jacket still sitting on the same chair as last night and were excited at the thought of his bare arms, but quickly realized he had a long sleeved black henley on. Not that you could be disappointed with that.

“Morning.” His gruff morning voice nearly floored you, “Coffee?” You couldn’t help but smile at the all to familiar question on his lips. You only nodded and walked to the kitchen space, noting your clothes neatly folded on the couch. There was no evidence he had even slept there at all. You wondered if he had.

You sat yourself at the kitchen counter and he placed the cup in front of you, it felt like some familiar routine only if you’d done it just once before. He stood on the other side of the kitchen island and leant against the counter top, sipping his coffee as he watched you over the edge of his cup. For a moment it felt as if the two of you were old friends, comfortable in each other presence, when in reality you were practically strangers.

You had both hands pressed around the warm porcelain and practically hummed with pleasure as you took a sip, eyes shutting just for a moment. You feet were dangling from the high stool and you heard a whine and felt a lick against your exposed ankle. You looked down to see a sleepy puppy curling himself at the base of the chair. You laughed at the small creature staring back up at you.

“Cara is going to come pick you up in a little while. I wasn’t sure when you’d be awake.” His voice was calm and even, you couldn’t figure out how he felt about the whole thing.

“Oh thank you. She’s going to be pissed.” You added after a moment and chuckled, the sound was drowned out by his own laugh. You couldn’t help but smile at him while he laughed, noting the way his lips pulled back to reveal his teeth. You looked down into the mug in your hands. “I’m really sorry about this, I know it must’ve been terrible to sleep on the couch last night. I’ll be out of your hair as soon as I can.”

“Y/N,” His tone startled you and you looked up for his eyes to meet yours, his brows furrowed in concern. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I’m glad you called me. It puts my mind at ease to know you’re safe.” 

His words completely took you off guard to the point that you didn’t register the fact he was standing closer now, hand reaching out across the table and resting on one of your own closed around your coffee cup. You practically held your breath as you looked into his soft brown eyes which sparkled in the morning light. The orange tinge of the sun warming the side of your face and illuminating his. It was completely dazzling to see him like this with his hair glowing in the light as it lay across his forehead.

The sound of the door bell buzzing made you practically jump out of your chair and him take a step backwards. 

“Don’t worry, it will be Cara.” He said, walking around the corner and heading to the front door. You heard her the moment the door cracked open. You stood up from your chair and the puppy joined you, following you as you waited for Cara.

“Where is she?” The Mandalorian didn’t get a chance to reply to her as she pushed past him and made her way to you.

“I’m okay-“ You had barely got the words out before she wrapped her arms around your shoulders and pulled you into a tight hug. You felt some tension dissipate within you and you relaxed into her embrace. You were glad your face was pushed into her shoulder because you felt some tears welling behind closed eyelids. She finally stepped back, holding you at arms length and looking down at you with a level of concern you thought was reserved for mothers. 

Cara finally released you and turned to the Mandalorian. “Did you get a good look at him?”

“No, he was too far away but he stayed in the neighborhood until nearly 3am.” He responded, the pair of them sounded like two police officers discussing a case. You knew that comparison would have made them both angry, but you couldn’t help but see the similarity.

Cara nodded and looked back at you, “I borrowed Billie’s car, I’ll take you home.” You nodded back silently and moved to pick up your clothes. Billie was one of the member’s of the Rebellion and a close friend. You were on the way to the bathroom to change when his voice broke your concentration. 

“Keep the clothes. Give them back next time.”

“O-okay.” You stopped and paused, leaning down to pull your shoes over his thick bed socks you had tucked the pants into. While you laced them you listened to the two talk.

“She shouldn’t walk alone for a while, not until we have a better idea of what’s happening here.”

“I agree, we have our classes together so I can take her there and back. I’ll be able to do her library shifts too, but I’m at the Florist early and late on the days Y/N has work at the Coffee shop.”

“Send me her schedule. I’ll do it.”

“No you will not.” It was your own voice that had joined their conversation, you had your pile of clothes hugged to your chest and jacket pulled over the gray sweats. “I am more than capable of taking care of myself.”

Both sets of brown eyes looked down at you and you felt any confidence evaporate. They looked back to each other.

“I’ll text you her schedule.” Cara said simply before walking to the door.

You followed her out sheepishly, only looking back at the man and the dog once you were closing the door behind you.

“Thanks again.” You mumbled quietly, closing the door and rushing to follow Cara to the stairs.

“Anytime.” He spoke to the closed door where his eyes lingered, a smile reaching his face as he thought of you.


	7. Chaperone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You finally get a little more information on the Mandalorian as he agrees to walk you home from work to keep you safe.

When you and Cara made it back to the apartment you had planned to interrogate her and then convince her not to worry for your safety. Instead you immediately crawled into your bed and fell asleep, too exhausted to even ask a single question.

You woke up two hours later, the clock by your bed reading 9:34 AM. The dreams you had just woke from just escaping your memory. You thought you could recall the feeling of soft fingers and brown tousled hair but you couldn’t be sure. You allowed yourself a single moment to rest before you begrudgingly sat up.

“Mornin’, kid.” You looked over to see Cara sitting on her own bed with her laptop in front of her and a steaming mug of coffee in her hand. Every few moments she would reach out to scroll the page down. You assumed she was doing readings for class.

For a moment you had wondered if you had slept through the day and it was the next morning, you shot up, “Oh my god did I miss class?”

Cara chuckled, “No we’ve still got an hour before class starts, you only slept a couple hours.” 

You sighed in relief and began to walk to the kitchen wall to pour yourself your second cup of coffee for the day. You were reminded of his hand touching yours as you reached for the mug. Shaking the thought from your head you turned back to Cara and sat on the end of her bed. 

“Are you going to tell me what the hell happened yesterday?”

She didn’t look up from her computer screen and frowned. 

“I was hoping to avoid that, I’m not going to lie, but you have every right to know.” She closed her laptop and took her coffee cup in both her hands before looking up at you.  
“Mando and I both think that you were followed by a member of a cartel called ‘The Empire’.” She acknowledged your confused expression. “It’s an organization that both the Rebels and the Guild have tried to bring down. Mando used to belong to a group called ‘The Watch’ but a few years ago the Empire took them out, any survivors had to jump ship, move cities and go underground.” 

You sat in stunned silence, feeling like you had been waiting for this explanation for a long time coming and not wanting to miss a detail. Suddenly the mystery around the Mandalorian was starting to make sense to you.

“We’re not sure why they’re following you. They haven’t been very active on this side of town since the Guild and the Rebels formed an alliance, but it’s possible that they were after Mando and not you. He caused them a lot of trouble back when the Watch was coming down and I don’t think they’ve forgotten it. Someone must have seen you two together at some point. Regardless, he and I have agreed you shouldn’t get pulled into anything and we’re going to keep you safe. I promise, okay?”

You nodded in response, taken aback by the thought that some mafia had you on their radar.

“Now you better get ready, we can’t be late again.”

\---

You didn’t have work at the coffee shop until Thursday, so you spent the next few days being guarded by Cara on campus as you studied and went from class to library and home again. You felt disappointed that you had no excuse to see him again until your next shift, but you barely had the time to think about it. Your professors had begun to pile on essays and finals for the last half of semester and you spent every second pouring over textbooks and novels.

By the time Thursday came, you had practically forgotten the dramatic events of the start of the week and were beginning to relax again. 

The morning was brisk, and you were grateful for Cara’s motorbike and for Cara refusing to let you go to work alone. She worked every Thursday to Saturday at the florist from 8 am to 8pm. This gave her the option of dropping you at work by 7am and having breakfast at the coffee shop until her shift. You were just grateful you didn’t have to walk in the cold.

As she left she reminded you she was only a few minutes away with her bike from the florist, and that she had arranged for Mando to pick you up. The thought of seeing him made your stomach churn and had even prompted you to wear lipstick to work on the off chance it would still be on by 2pm.

You were grateful it was a busy day, giving you very few moments to be nervous or to focus too hard on any of the men in suits who walked in the door. Each one made you uneasy, but you were quick to realize none were the man who followed you. You also noticed Greef keeping more of an eye on you than usual and you wondered whether Mando or Cara were responsible for telling him.

When your shift finally ended you were almost surprised to see a man in a leather jacket waiting for you outside at exactly 2pm.

You were too old to be getting butterflies in your stomach for some man, you thought to yourself as you walked out to join him in front of the coffee shop.

“Hey stranger.” You greeted him, pulling your sweater sleeves over your hands, “Ready to hit the road?”

He looked up at you, cigarette hanging from his smiling lips. “Ready when you are, sweetheart.”

You were as unprepared as you were the last time he called you that and you couldn’t stop yourself from looking down at your feet with a blush. 

You began the walk home with him following closely by your side. You noticed the way he watched each passer by with scrutiny. You walked in silence with him for a while before finally speaking.

“So how’s the pup? Named him yet?”

Mando continued to observe the pedestrians as he spoke. “That little menace. He tries to eat everything in my apartment. He’s with Peli today.” He took a moment to sigh and ceased his judging to look at you, “No name yet. He was wearing a collar when I found him, it didn’t have tags, but after I found out he wasn’t micro-chipped I got rid of it. So he’s nameless, for now.”

“A bit like you then.” You smirked mischeviously.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise and shook his head with a bemused chuckle.

You cracked a smile at the though of the tiny puppy wreaking havoc for the man who walked beside you. You could tell by the way he spoke of the puppy that he cared for it greatly and you were so relieved.  
Before long you were outside your apartment and you regretted not walking slower to get more time with him. You had thought long and hard about asking him about the Empire but decided against it.

You turned to him, one hand on the building’s door, the other scratching the back of your neck.

“So… would you like to come up?” You asked sheepishly.

“Oh.” He looked genuinely surprised at your request, and then remorseful at his reply, “I’m sorry I can’t. I have to… work tonight.” 

You hoped he couldn’t tell you were embarrassed, “Of course! Well thank you for walking me home.” 

“Anytime, it’s the least I can do after getting you in this mess.”

You lingered for a moment, looking him over before you retreated into your apartment. He was wearing a dark t-shirt under his jacket and you noticed a pair of black leather gloves sticking out of the pocket of his jeans. You definitely couldn’t suppress a blush when you realized he was looking you over right back.

“Bye.” You quickly turned and rushed into the building, feeling your face glow red. Once the doors had closed behind you and you knew he couldn’t see you, you stood in front of the mailboxes and put your face in your hands.

You felt a small buzz in your back pocket and for a brief moment you thought it could be him texting you. But when you checked your phone you saw the notification for two texts, one from Cara and one from your supervisor at the library.

The text from Cara was just a link to a meme on twitter, but the message from you supervisor read ‘Hi Y/N, would you be able to come in tonight from 3pm – 8pm? Thanks!’

You looked to the clock on your phone which read 2:47. You knew Cara would be mad at you if you walked yourself to work without telling her, but you argued with yourself that it wasn’t far away. It was even on campus, you reasoned with yourself, it would be fine.

You quickly typed out ‘Be there in 10’ to your supervisor and walked back out the way you had only just come. You were slightly disappointed to notice that your chaperone had left but tried to focus on walking yourself to the library whilst composing a text to Cara explaining where you were. You were just about to hit send as you crossed through the car park and felt a tap on your shoulder.

When you turned around, everything went black.


	8. Dreams and Reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You weren’t sure when your life had gone from a mildly amusing college sit-com to a dramatic mafia film, but there you were."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw for some violence and injury!
> 
> Thank you all for commenting, I hope you enjoy the new chapter and that you can forgive me for the way it ends ;)

When you awoke you felt as if you were stuck beneath tones of sand, your mouth and eyes felt dry and scratchy and you were all too aware of it. You could hardly open your eyes and when you did all you saw was a blurred fog. You sat in this discomfort for a while before you thought to move your arms. It felt like a millennia before your body would co-operate with you, and when you finally could find the strength to raise your arm, you were stopped short. A sharp pain radiated through your wrist and you blinked as it to remove the feeling of the “sand” from your eyes.

For a moment you thought you could hear someone speaking, but it had the same effect as a glass pressed against a wall to hear a conversation, the words seemed to stick together in the air and mold themselves into an indistinguishable sound before they hit you.

Slowly you felt the dryness in your eyes clear and the feeling return to your body. You became aware of a faint ache but couldn’t quite figure out where it was. You could hardly figure out where you were. 

The voice remained distant as you realized there was no sand and there was no fog. You struggled to take in your surroundings, your most pressing thought being your thirst.

Finally the words made sense to you.

“Where is it?”

You strained to lift your heavy lidded eyes and find the point of origin of these words. A dark figure stood before you. Slowly your eyes focused and you could make out a man standing before you in all black, his hair was slicked back against his skull and a dark moustache interrupted his face, which you struggled to make sense of, suddenly you felt that the light was too strong against your eyes. To compensate you moved your gaze straight ahead of you and it piqued your interest to notice his hands were covered in leather gloves. 

You realized his question had been directed at you.

“Pardon?” You rasped, all to aware of your dry throat.

“I said, where is it?” You still couldn’t quite grasp where you were or what was happening until you once more tried to raise your arms. They were pulled short and slammed down into cool metal. You looked down at your body to see why and you saw your wrists zip tied to the metal frame of a chair.

“Huh.” Your voice not sounding like your own echoed in the nearly empty room. The only occupants you and the man who stood before you, hands neatly folded in front of himself.

“You have something I want.”

“Who the fuck are you?” You knew the words were a mistake the moment they left your mouth and you flinched as the man stepped towards you, the sound of metal echoed in the small grey room as the zip ties once more tugged against the chair.

“You and that man, the Mandalorian, took something from me.”

You realized whatever they had used to drug you was starting to wear off, you briefly remembered a man in a suit in the parking lot as you made your way to the library. Your vision and your thoughts were clearing.

“Listen, I have no idea what you are talking about or what man you’re referring to- but I think there’s been a mistake.” You half lied.

You slowly moved your feet and much to your disappointment you realize they too were bound to the chair.

Shit.

“Where is it, where is the dog?”

You immediately stopped fidgeting and tried to process what you had heard. In a million years you could not have guessed that was what this was all about.

Is this guy really angry enough about his missing dog to kidnap me?

You stayed quiet, hoping he hadn’t noticed your reaction.

“The dog had a collar on. I need to know where it is, it contains very important information.” His voice was strong and unwavering, he talked to you as if this were a business meeting and you weren’t tied to a chair in front of him.

Your heart began to race, you knew there wasn’t a chance in hell you were going to tell him where Mando or the Puppy was and you were struggling to think of a way out of this.

When you didn’t answer the man’s hand shot out and hit you across the face. You gasped in shock, more at his sudden movement than the sting of his gloved hand hitting your face. You felt a sharp sting on your lower lip and felt warmth pooling down your chin. You looked to your lap to see droplets of blood falling across your jeans and t-shirt.  
Cara is really going to kill me this time you thought to yourself before the man spoke again.

“Tell me where it is, or things are going to get a lot worse.”

You couldn’t hold back the laugh that escaped you, and you were pretty sure you wouldn’t have stopped it anyway. You weren’t sure when your life had gone from a mildly amusing college sit-com to a dramatic mafia film, but there you were.

The man took a step even closer and looked down at you. You raised your gaze to meet his.

“You’re going to want to talk to city waste management, that collar is in a dumpster somewhere. Maybe you should just start looking at the dump now and get a head start.” Your snide comment must’ve gotten under his skin but his calm and cool demeanor never faltered, not even when he struck you again.

That one hurt more than the last and you felt a fresh cut bloom beside your left eye. It was like someone had flashed a light in your eyes suddenly and you momentarily lost vision. You scrunched your eyes together until you left less like you were going to tip over.

“This is ridiculous, dude.” You practically whispered the words. The whole thing seemed surreal to you and you thought for a moment you could’ve been dreaming. 

Your eyelids once more felt as if they were being weighed down and you felt yourself sway slightly in your seat. The man looked down at you, never breaking his gaze, even when a man in a suit opened the door and came to stand beside him.

You found the strength to look up and you realized the man was the one who had tried to follow you home from work. You weren’t even surprised a little bit.

The man in the suit leaned to whisper in the other mans ear. He finally pulled his gaze from you and looked at the man beside him.

“What?”

“We should go.”

“Bring the girl.”

“Yes, sir.”

You were struggling to keep up with their conversation and you were hardly aware of what was happening as you heard the snip of the zip ties being cut and the soft tap as they fell to the floor. The man in the suit roughly grabbed your shoulder and pulled you up. Once you got to your feet you looked down at your now free hands.

You didn’t hesitate and swung a fist at the man whose tight grip on you was beginning to hurt. You heard the soft thud of your fist colliding with his jaw.  
“Ow!” He yelped and jumped back from you, the man in black who had began to walk out the door turned back to see the cause of the suited man’s outburst. 

You were becoming dizzy and could hardly stand but when his hand lifted from your shoulder to touch his face you tried to make a run for it. Your body was heavier than you thought and he caught you before you had even gone a full step.

“Fucking bitch.” The man in the suit hissed pushing you to the ground, he made a step towards you and stopped.

The three of you all turned to the open door as sounds of gunshots filtered in.

You struggled to keep your eyes open as you lay there on the floor, the clear images of the men before you turning into moving distortions. You became aware of the sounds of men fighting and fists hitting flesh growing closer, but the strength to open your eyes was fading and the world slipped back to black as your heard your name being shouted. You thought for a moment you could hear fireworks, or a car backfire, but something deep in your mind told you the origin of the sound was something much more sinister.

The sounds began to fade as you fought for consciousness and you heard what you assumed was an exchange of words, and one final “backfire”.

You were distinctly aware of something warm wrapping itself around you and you thought you had never had such a lovely dream as the one you had fallen into in that moment. You were clouded in a soft glow of joy and you could feel a gentle touch against your cheek. Your dream turned bitter as you felt a sharpness in your temple.

“She’s okay, I’ve got her.” A deep masculine tone penetrated your dream.

“Who did this?” Somewhere in the depths of your dream you thought you heard Cara’s voice.

“Don’t worry, I dealt with it.”

“Get her out of her, Greef and I will deal with the cops. We made sure that Constable Fett would be the one on the scene.”

“You sure Bo-Katan won’t show up?”

“I made sure. Get her home safe. I’ll see you both tomorrow when I’ve sorted this mess out. Look after her for me. Promise me she’ll be safe?” You recognized the motherly tone Cara used when she was concerned.

“I promise. She means more to me than you know.”

You struggled to get your mouth to open as you felt your body floating, gently and rhythmically you felt your body jostling against something which you realized was the source of the warmth you felt. A familiar smell filled your senses and you remembered the soft honey tones in a pair of warm brown eyes.

“Mando?” You thought you had managed to pronounce all syllables but it was coming out in a dull slur, “Why are you in my dream?” 

You felt the reverberation of a chuckle against your body, you were desperate to see him but your eyes weren’t responding.

“My name is Din.” You thought for a second you heard a car door and suddenly the warmth removed itself from you. You grumbled in protest.

“Shhh. It’s okay, sweetheart. I’ve got you.”

With those few words you stopped fighting and drifted back to sleep, the sounds of a car engine your lullaby.

It felt like only seconds later that you heard the car engine cut off and that previous warmth return. You felt like you had the strength to open you eyes and when you did you were greeted with a very close view of a leather jacket and zipper resting at the base of a neck. Suddenly everything clicked and you realized you were being carried in the arms of Mando- or rather- you struggled to recollect what he had said – Din?

He hadn’t noticed you had awoken and you didn’t reveal yourself, not even as he struggle to open the front door. You heard the key turn and door open and suddenly you heard the scurrying of paws against wood flooring. 

You felt a smile come to your lips as you heard the puppy yipping, following the man who carried you into the bedroom. Your smile opened the fresh cut on your face and you winced, revealing your consciousness to Din as he gently stooped to place you on the bed.

You legs dangled off the edge and you raised one hand to your lip, you used the other to pet the dog who had come to sit beside you.

Your rescuer knelt before you and softly placed his hands on either side of your face, he looked into your eyes and examined your face. His eyebrows knitted together.

“Good, you’re awake. How are you feeling?”

You still felt groggy and dropped both hands in your lap, meeting his gaze you groaned slightly, suddenly becoming aware of an ache across your ribs and lower back from where your body had hit the floor. 

He continued to stare at you in concern, waiting for an answer.

“I’m okay.” You finally answered, voice still hoarse. “Can I have some water?”

He nodded but didn’t remove his hands from your face just yet, he looked you over one more time as if taking stock of every scrape and bruise visible. Finally he stood and left the room. Giving you a moment to attend to the puppy curled against your side.

“All this for you.” You mumbled to your self, hands drifting through his soft fur. It was then in the soft low lighting of the bedroom you noticed the red marks around both your wrists.

You became aware of the sound of a gasping sob and it wasn’t until you felt your own body shake that you realized the sound had come from you. The puppy whined in your lap as you cried and suddenly Din re-appeared in front of you, quickly placing the glass of water on the side-table. 

Without a word he sat beside you and placed a hand on your back, you felt his hesitation in the action and you wanted to cry even harder at the thought he didn’t want to touch you, you felt like a burden.

You tried to stifle your cries as you realized the tears falling into your lap were joined by fresh drops of blood from the wounds on your face you had re-opened. 

“Let’s get you cleaned up. Alright, honey?” You felt a firm grip on your shoulder and you winced, his hand falling across the same place the man in the suit had grabbed you only hours earlier. He pulled back his hand as if he had been burnt, and looked at you with what you could only describe as pity.

You stood with the Mandalorian and he walked you to the bathroom, watching you all the way, one hand around your waist as you threatened to tip over at any moment on unsteady feet.

He sat you down on the edge of the bath and turned to dig through the bathroom cupboard for a moment, returning with a first aid kit and a washcloth.

He hesitated again in front of you and you looked up with teary eyes. He had a guilty expression on his face.

“What is it?” You asked with a sniffle.

“I’m going to have to get you to take off your clothes.”

“Oh.”

You had dreamt many times he would say a version of those words to you, just in an entirely different context. A faint blush kissed your cheeks and you pushed your thoughts to the side. You knew he was only doing this to make sure you had no serious injuries hiding, and probably more so to change you into something clean.

“Okay.”

You moved to lift your shirt above your head and whimpered, the movement had tugged at the sore muscles in your back and at the cuts on your wrists. 

With a swift movement he stepped forward and wordlessly began helping you shed layers of clothes until you were left in a bra and underwear. You couldn’t even muster embarrassment as you were sure in that moment he couldn’t possibly have a single romantic or sexual thought towards you anyway, especially not after all the trouble you’d put him through.

But then again you didn’t notice his eyes or the way he began to grow slightly red and flushed.

With meticulous and practiced precision he went over each cut and scrape with iodine and looked over you at your injuries. As he mentally catalogued each wound you couldn’t help but notice the angry expression he bore. You wondered if he was angry with you for being so reckless. He was nearly done placing small strips of stick on bandages to your injuries when you spoke.

“I’m sorry.” Your words were barely audible but he still looked at you in shock.

He moved to hold you chin in his thumb and forefinger, gently rubbing the pad of his thumb across the cut in your lip.

“You have nothing to be sorry for. I’m sorry I let you out of my sight. If anything else had happened to you I- “ He cut himself off with a sigh and closed his eyes.

You looked down in shame at your hands. You opened your mouth to speak when you felt his lips touch your forehead.

Your heart hammered in your chest and you felt like a computer frozen in overload.

When he pulled back you looked up at him, feeling more dazed than you had when you first arrived in his apartment.

“You must be tired, come on.”

Without warning he picked you up in his arms and carried you bridal style back into the bedroom. You were all too aware of the fact that you were in nothing but your undergarments in the arms of a man you were finally willing to admit you had a rather killer crush on.

He placed you gently on the edge of the bed for the second time, and turned to rummage in some draws, returning with a large t-shirt.

“Lift up your arms.”

You gladly did as you were told and lifted your arms for him to more easily slip into the oversized shirt, but the sudden movement made you wince as you had momentarily forgotten your injuries.

Once you were covered slightly more you felt some of your brain power return and shuffled yourself back into bed and pulled the covers around your waist.

You stared up at Din as he stood beside you, illuminated only by the streetlight that drifted through the cracks of the closed blinds and you took in his every detail. His messy hair, the dark circles under his eyes. He looked exhausted. You also mapped out the curve of his nose and the angle between the outer corner of his eye and his eyebrow. You bit your lip slightly as you thought about running your hands through his hair.

“Goodnight.” He said simply and turned to leave.

“Wait!” Your hand shot out to grab his, “Please don’t leave.”

You weren’t sure what had prompted you to say it aloud, but you knew you didn’t want him to go, not just yet anyway.

He looked as if he was trying to solve the world’s hardest math equation as he stared at you and sat down beside you, one hand still wrapped in yours.

He reached out to you to tuck a hair behind your ear and you smiled at the familiar moment, eyes closing in contentment. 

You opened your eyes again in the precise moment he leant forward and his lips collided with your own.

You didn’t even have to think as you reached your arms around his neck and pulled him in closer to you, the heat of his body now pressing against you. 

His lips were soft but firm against yours and you refused to pull away, even for the sake of breathing.

You found yourself smiling against his lips and when he pulled away you realized he was smiling too.

Din rested his forehead against yours and tenderly cupped your cheek. You rested your hand on his, trying to compose yourself, you felt certain he could hear the way your heart was pounding. He let out a shaky laugh.

“I’ve wanted to do that for a while.” He admitted sheepishly.

You laughed in disbelief at his words and pulled him back into a kiss.

You were hardly aware of the way your hands moved to remove his jacket, or the way he had slipped his feet from his boots and now laid almost on top of you in the bed. He moved consciously aware of your injuries, trying not to put too much pressure on you or reopen any wounds.

The only thing you could focus on was the heat that grew within you at every touch and the way he gently caressed you.

The pair of you navigated into a position in which you were both lying in bed, facing one another, when you could finally pull his lips from his you were startled to realize you were stifling a yawn. 

He pulled you close to his chest, wrapping his large arms around you, careful not to be too rough with you.

Before you knew it you were drifting back to sleep, despite your efforts to hold onto consciousness.


	9. Synchronicities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is what you've all been waiting for folks!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for sexual content (Not too graphic and entirely consensual!)

You woke the next morning to the feeling of something wriggling beside you, when you reached out with a groan your hand met fur and for a moment your heart stopped.

There was that disorienting moment between dream and consciousness where you weren’t sure where you were or what was happening. It quickly passed as you felt the ache in your body and the pain that lingered. You opened your eyes, groggy in the warm morning tones of light, beams of which lay across you and the man beside you.

Facing you, fast asleep, was Din. His arm curled under his head and mouth half open as he breathed evenly and deeply. Each breath resulting in a calm rise and fall of his body. Between you both was the small furry creature who was the cause for all the excitement you had gone through over the past week, innocently curled up between your body and his. 

You shifted slightly and breathed in sharply from your sensitive ribs being moved, the sound waking the puppy who turned and began to lick your face. You stifled a laugh and raised your hands to pet him, trying to ignore the deep purple bruises blooming across your wrists, punctuated by small red scrapes. After a moment the dog turned, jumped from the bed and made his way out the door. You listened to the quiet echo of his paws on the hardwood floors and heard the sound of his body landing on the leather couch.

Without the small body between you and Din you could observe him more fully and couldn’t help but think he looked so much like some kind of classical statue lying before you.

He still wore the same clothes as the night before you realized, he was laying atop the blankets where you had pulled him last night. You silently cursed yourself from moving away from him in your sleep and tried to shuffle closer despite the protests from your aching limbs.

Part of you felt like a creep for lying there and watching him sleep, but you couldn’t quite bring yourself to mind. You mapped each line in his face to memory and observed the different colors of the hair that formed his untamed facial hair. 

Long dark tendrils of curls fell across his forehead and framed his face and before you realized what you were doing, your hand reached out and gently brushed it from his aside with a timid finger.

He sighed in his sleep and moved slightly at your touch. For a moment you feared he was waking up but he kept his eyes closed as he reached out, wrapped his arms around you and pulled you close. 

You head was now resting on his chest and you could hear the steady beat of his heart and feel the rise and fall of his chest you had been observing. You secretly hoped he would remain asleep for hours before he could wake and you would be forced to leave his arms.

Your face grew hot as you thought back on the previous night, the way his warm body felt pressed against yours and the gentle pressure of his lips. 

You had never felt so safe.

“Morning.” His voice was quiet, but deep and rough, it seemed to resonate through you.

You hadn’t realized he was awake when he had pulled you in, and you blushed even harder at the realization he wanted you closer.

“Morning.” You whispered into his chest.

You lay like that for a while, wrapped in his arms. His fingers gently running through you hair and stroking your cheek.

You had so many questions you wanted to ask him, mainly about where Cara was and why you had been taken in the first place. You wondered if that man would come back for you, or for Din and the puppy, but that was a question you felt didn’t need an answer. You couldn’t be quite sure of what had happened last night but a feeling deep in your gut told you that you wouldn’t have to worry about that man again.

As much as you hated to do it, you needed to know if Cara was okay, so you pulled back from him to look him in the eye.

“Where’s C? She’s okay right?” Your morning voice was only exaggerated by your exhaustion and lingering pain.

His warm eyes looked at you and he nodded, “She’ll come to get you soon, she’s fine. I think she should be the one to explain this to you.”

You raised an eyebrow.

“Y/N, this is all my fault.” He pulled his arms away from you and you momentarily mourned the loss of contact as he pulled himself into a seated position and looked down at you. You scrambled to sit up and just as you began to protest he pressed a single finger to your lips. 

“This wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t meet me. So I understand if you want to leave with Cara today and not see me again. I won’t bother you anymore.”

You wanted to laugh at how naïve he sounded to you. You were at a loss for words so instead you leant forward and pressed your lips to his, placing one hand on his cheek. For a moment he froze in shock, then he relaxed and sunk into the kiss.

You found yourself sitting in his lap, his hands resting on your waist whilst yours explored his hair. You knew he was treating you like glass with the way his hands gently caressed you, but you weren’t going to complain, your body still ached from the day before. But now you ached in new ways.

Slowly you both deepened the kiss and his tongue darted out to meet your own, you practically melted in his hands, sighing into his mouth. His hands slowly trailed down your sides, coming to rest at the crease where your hip met your bent leg, you practically whined as his thumbs gently rubbed circles there.

You drifted your hands down the back of his neck and moved them across his shoulders to rest on his chest. For a moment you caught your breath and rested your forehead against his. A moment that mirrored the evening prior and made you smile at the all synchronicities life had to offer.

“This wouldn’t be happening if I didn’t meet you either.” You laughed before quickly adding in a soft voice. “This wasn’t your fault, Din.” 

He seemed startled that you used his name and quickly began to kiss you again, only now he wasn’t as gentle. He used his body as leverage to lift you and drop you on the bed, he was now above you, your legs still wrapped around his waist and you became very aware of what was pressed against you there and the heat that was gathering in your core. You let out a soft sigh as your body hit the mattress; you were becoming less and less aware of the pain in your body, too enraptured by his touches.

Suddenly your kisses became almost frantic and you found yourself fighting with the hem of his shirt to lift it over his head, his now exposed torso distracting you for a second as your eyes explored every inch of bare skin.

Your focus shifted as he began to trace your throat with his mouth, moving down to collar bones and stopping at the edge of your t-shirt collar, which he swiftly removed with your help.

He continued his trail of kisses right to the edge of where your bra cupped your breast and then paused, looking up at you at for permission.

You nodded, breathless, and he continued down your stomach, one of his hands now flirting with the waistband of your panties. He brought his lips back to yours and you couldn’t help but moan as his one hand now pressed against the place between your legs which was damp with your arousal.

You wrapped your arms around him, feeling the muscles in his back move in time with his arm as he gentle stroked you through the thin wet cloth of your panties. You dug your nails in slowly as he pulled the cloth aside and gently ran a finger across the bundle of nerves there, pulling a moan from your lips. 

The moan turned into a surprised gasp as he slipped a finger inside you while biting down on where your neck and shoulder met. He experimentally curled his finger inside of you. He had you almost in tears already with that singular motion.

“I-Is this okay?” He sounded broken with lust.

“Yes.” You replied, equally so. His pupils were blown and he breathed heavily against you, looking into your eyes for a moment before pressing a gentle kiss to your lips.

When you found the strength within you to move, your hands went to his belt buckle and worked it open before pulling at the buttons and zipper on his jeans apart with a sense of desperation.

He groaned as you palmed at his bulge for a moment before pulling his pants down. He took hand away from your wetness to disrobe and you growled slightly in protest but were instantly distracted as he stood above you, completely naked.

You had to press your thighs together as you glanced down at his length. In a split second he was back, pressed against you, ripping the remaining pieces of fabric from your body.

For a moment you wondered if you should be insecure, lying there, completely bare before this specimen of man. But he only looked at you with adoration in his eyes for a moment before you felt him slip inside of you.

You inhaled sharply at the way he filled you so completely, stretching you to the point of the most satisfying ache imaginable.

“Fuck.” He hissed, still for only a second before he began to move slowly. 

The sound of his obscenity only fueled the fire within you and you desperately bucked your hips up, silently asking him to go faster.

It was as if all the desire you had ever felt for him accumulated in that single moment, powering you. You were completely aware of every slight movement and fluctuation in pressure, even to a fault in that the position you were in made your ribs ache.

He complied to your silent request and you couldn’t even form a coherent thought anymore as he rocked against you, all the while caressing your cheeks and whispering incoherently in your ear. 

With a slight effort you flipped him onto his back and straddled him, softly rocking your hips back and forth, your clit rubbing against him as his hands on your hips encouraging each movement. He slid his hands from your waist along your sensitive sides, bringing them to cup your breasts. He pulled obscenities from you as he rolled your nipples between finger and thumb.

He fought to keep his eyes open, to look at you riding him. You looked right back, feeling the sensation growing within you that threatened to spill over.

You both came like that, staring into each other’s eyes, panting when you collapsed on top of him.

You wrapped your arms around him and stroked his hair as he kissed you, you were both shivering in the aftershocks of your orgasms, so blissful and mind-blowing you both couldn’t speak a word for ten minutes.

You couldn’t even form words when he got up and left the room, disappearing into the bathroom for a few minutes. You heard taps turning and water begin to run.

He returned, sauntering into the room completely naked and with no hesitation picked you up in his arms and headed back to where he had come from.

“Hey!” You protested with a laugh.

When he set you down in front of the tub, now half full with steaming water, you felt your legs wobble beneath you and were glad when he helped you step into the bath with him. 

The warm water rose as you both sat in the tub, he positioned his body behind you so you were resting against his chest as he tenderly ran a wet wash cloth over your body, pressing a kiss to your head every few minutes. He had yet to speak a word.

You both sat like that until the water went cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this brings you all some satisfaction after the slow burn extending to chapter 9! I have never written smut before so this was entirely new for me. There's still a chapter or two to go in this story but I just wanted to thank you all for your lovely comments! and I hope you all have a lovely Holiday season x


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